89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

I haven't done much of anything on the boat lately except work on the engine, think I've about got it firgured out with the help of the Force outboard forum here on iboats to be bad cd modules but still have some testing to do to be sure. I had the boat completely unwrapped today so I thought I would post a couple of picture's of the way the boat looks at this point. I still need to finish fiberglassing the gunwales, but due to lack of funds lately that has had to be put on hold for the time being. Anyway here ya go!

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

Max that is quite the transformation especially when one considers that you started out with a tall hulled Cuddy cabin . Should look fantastic once you get all the glass done and get some color on her.


Rick

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

Max that is quite the transformation especially when one considers that you started out with a tall hulled Cuddy cabin . Should look fantastic once you get all the glass done and get some color on her.


Rick

Thanks airmedic, it might be a while at the rate I'm going before the boat see's any paint or glass for that matter.

max!

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

Max I understand with the current weather here in Louisville my play money is dwindling quickly . I need high 90's this time of year to sell AC units and low to mid 70's aint cutting it .


Rick

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

I finally got the motor running on all four cylinders today, bad cd module, going out of town tommorrow afternoon for the weekend, won't be back til late Sunday afternoon so I won't get the chance to take the boat out this weekend. But I plan to do some tinkering on the boat evenings after work this coming week to get it ready to test the following weekend if all goes well. I'll let you know how it goes!

max!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

Glad you got it running. Now lets get that thing done!

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

I didn't get a chance to try the boat as planned this past weekend. We'll see what happens this coming weekend!

max!

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

Well the news is not so good. I've been noticing a small amount of lower unit oil coming out around the top of the gearcase lately, but now it's started leaking quite a bit. I resealed the lower unit a long while back, but I guess while sitting over the months and not being used the seals have dried out, so it looks like the lower unit will have to come off and new orings and seals put in before I will be able to test the boat.

max!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

That's a weird one. I can't imagine the seals drying up from no use. Heck my motor sat for god know how many years before I got it and doesn't leak. Sorry about the bum luck.

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

That's a weird one. I can't imagine the seals drying up from no use. Heck my motor sat for god know how many years before I got it and doesn't leak. Sorry about the bum luck.

It's been several years since I put the new seals in. I'm thinking from some reading I've done lately that the problem may have been caused by possibly not having used sealant on the orings when replacing them or I may have put sealant on them before I installed them I can't remember. The lower unit is just akward enough on the 125 that it's sort of hard to replace by myself so I'm not really looking forward to wrestling with it for 2 hours to get it back on like I did the last time I took it off.

max!

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

I pulled the lower unit off the motor this afternoon and there were no seals leaking in the lower unit.
I ran the motor on two cylinders quite a bit lately while I was working on it trying to get it to run on all four cylinders so I guess the unburned oil and gas from the engine was puddling up around the inside of the caseing at the exhausht snout and as it exited the snout, it mixed with the water puddled on the ground and I mistakened it for a lower unit oil leak.
I went ahead and installed a new impeller while the lower unit was off, only took about an hour to get it back on this time.
I thought about testing the boat this afternoon but I've got the little guy while the wife is out and after working on the lower lower unit for the last two hours in the heat outside I just don't have it in me to drag everything out and get the boat ready, plus I'd have the little guy with me while trying to launch and work on the boat. So it looks like I'll be waiting for another day!

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

Just got back from testing the boat, it sits nice in the water and handles well at higher speeds I didn't break anything running in the rough chop so I was pleased that everything held up, now it's time to move on to finishing the fiberglass work on the gunwales.
I had people coming up talking to me about the boat while I was working on it at the docks, one was a young kid and his dad, he just couldn't get over it. Everyone seemed to like the design of the boat, that made me feel really good about the work I've done on it. That's the thing I like best about the whole process is talking to people and seeing there reactions to what I'm doing with the boat. Most are amazed that it used to be a cuddy!

max!

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

Max thats AWESOME good to see you finally got her back out on the water and enjoyed the fruits of all that labor for a little while .


Rick

 

[jcsercsa]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

Feels good doesnt!!! I get the same thing everywhere I go with mine !!!

Cool on the trail . glad she ran good for yea !!!! John

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

This afternoon I decided to do some of the things on the boat that I had been putting off.
First I cut the two peices of trim plastic to size that cover the raw edges of the splash well and then I faired the rounded corners of the transom so it would line up with the corners of the transom cap. I had filled the gap at the transom corners with a marine epoxy putty but am a little unsure if it was the right thing to use as it doesn't give alot. I think I might grind it out and fill the gaps at the transom corners with 5200, this will flex if the cap moves on the transom.

max!

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

I put a second layer of fiberglass cloth on the gunwales this past week and have been working on the boat since 7am this morning sanding them and getting them as fair as possible. I still have the bowcap and bulkhead to glass so that will get done next. I had originally planned to use 1708 cloth and epoxy but it wasn't in the budget. I already had enough polyester resin and finishing cloth on hand to coat the gunwales with two layers of cloth, about 8oz. total thickness so I went with that. I'm planning a third layer of heavier cloth in the future but for now I wanted to get it useable and protect the plywood.

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

I've got the next three days off from work and I'm getting anxious to get some work done on the boat. Rain, work and other things have taken up most of my time lately but I plan to get back on the boat this weekend. I'm not sure what direction I'm going in but will update on my progress as the weekend goes.

Correction! While typing this I realized that while painting the interior of the boat that I painted all the way up to the bowcap plywood before getting any fiberglass on it, so my first job this weekend will be grinding the first two or so inches of paint away from the plywood bulkhead in preperation for the glass work that will be done in the future. "Nothing like doing it twice!" :redface:

max!

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

I just finished grinding the paint from around the plywood bulkhead so that it is ready to run a filet around and glass to the hull.
I added another layer of cloth to the port gunwale from the bow cap back about six feet while I was at it, the second layer of cloth that I had put on previously had some places on the rounded edges that I had sanded through so I thought it would be better to put another layer of glass on the gunwale to be safe.

I'm prepareing to cut an opening in the bulkhead, but can't decide how I want to do it! The easiest way is to cut an opening in the bulkhead and be done with it, but it would be nice to have a door to keep the weather out, but I also remember from the old boat shop days it's somewhat of a process to make a door so it's water tight.

Oh! The bulkhead is not near as tall as it appears in the picture, take about three inches off of the height in the picture and you'll be about right. Not alot of height for a door really with the framing behind the bulkhead,the door would almost have to be wider than tall by a couple of inches to be of any real use and I'm not sure I like the idea of a wider door, doesn't feel right to me. I'll figure it out as I go I guess.

max!

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

I have about decided to go with a door in the bowcap bulkhead at this point because I think it will be more practical than just an opening in the bulkhead, but for now I'm going to glass the whole thing in like it is and put the door in later.

max!

 

[maxum247]

Re: 89maxum cuddy/to bowrider/to center console conversion

I just finished putting the first layer of fiberglass on the bowcap a few minutes ago, came out pretty good.
I had hoped to get a second layer on today but didn't have enough resin or cloth left, so I'll get the second layer on another time.

Before and after picture's!

max!